To reduce injuries to a pedestrian that has been hit with a vehicle, some vehicles include a front hood lifting assembly to lift the front of the hood away from the frame of the vehicle. The hood lifting assembly typically includes two slidable plates and a hood lifting actuator that pushes one of the plates upward relative to the other plate. The moveable plate is coupled to a portion of the hood latch assembly and transfers the motion of the hood lifting actuator to the hood latch assembly, causing the front of the hood to be moved upwardly. However, it may be necessary to reset the plates in a lowered position for further operation of the vehicle to ensure the hood does not open when the vehicle is driven or towed for repair or service. Current resetting mechanisms are complex. For example, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0087401 describes a resetting mechanism.
In addition, some vehicle manufacturers want to control the speed with which the moveable plate is moved upwardly by the hood lifting actuator. Typically, this has been done by riveting extra metal parts onto the hood lifting device to slow down or absorb some of the energy of the hood lifting actuator. The metal parts deform at the end of travel to reduce the impulse of the sudden stop of the actuation and can be steel or aluminum, depending on the amount of energy that the device needs to absorb. However, these parts add cost and manufacturing time to the hood lifting assembly.
Accordingly, an improved hood lifting assembly is needed.